


Adaptation

by jzpelaez



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Game: Destiny 2: Season of Arrivals, Gen, Headcanon, Matterscourge, Outbreak Perfected, Pyramid Vessels (Destiny), SIVA (Destiny) - Freeform, Season of Arrivals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 09:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25847197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jzpelaez/pseuds/jzpelaez
Summary: “Y’know, I always thought that the red and black color scheme didn’t fit with your attire.”“That’s what you gained from this?”Headcanon on the Matterscourge ornament.
Kudos: 2
Collections: The Scholarly Hunter's Anthology





	Adaptation

alert: detected{INTERFERENCE-external;INTERFERENCE-internal;UNKNOWN}  
caution: detected-ENTITY[ENCOUNTERED-prior]  
ENTITY-status;INSTIGATOR-define: recall.protocol[CARRHAE WHITE]  
error-- unauthorized user detected  
error-- unauthorized user detected  
error-- intrusion detected  
error-- casing:breached  
error-- INTERFERENCE;set-status[SIVA]:disengage  
error-- INTERFERENCE;set-status[BallisticUnit]:disengage  
error-- INTERFERENCE;set-status[System]:disengage  
~cancel.last(3)  
alert-- cancel.request:denied- SIVA;BallisticUnit;System:disengaged  
alert-- INTERFERENCE-external;internal:detected;  
~engage[CounterProtocol:DARWIN;CounterProtocol:MENDEL]  
~override.status:SIVA;BallisticUnit;System:engage  
error-- insufficient.permissions;override.denied  
~engage[CounterProtocol:DARWIN;CounterProtocol:MENDEL]  
~override.status:SIVA;BallsticUnit;System:engage,  
provide.override.code: ZH-5.7.19-2.2.2-OBP  
alert-- override.code:accepted; runtime.command.authorized;  
engaging[CounterProtocol:DARWIN;CounterProtocol:MENDEL]  
status:SIVA;BallisticUnit;System:engaged  
alert-- CounterProtocol:DARWIN; CounterProtocol:MENDEL:engaged  
~register.new.subroutine[EVOLUTION BLACKBODY]  
-authorized  
~register.new.protocol[EMISSIVITY ZERO]  
-authorized  
~register.new.protocol[ALBEDO ONE]  
-authorized  
alert-- initiating.subroutine[EVOLUTION BLACKBODY]  
linked.protocols:active  
-adaptive.framework-initialized

* * *

My boots crunched against the ground, having transmatted from my ship to the surface of Io. My Ghost and Zavala prattled on in conversation, but my attention was focused elsewhere. The Pyramid beneath Luna’s surface was shocking, but seeing this was alarming. My neck craned upwards, trying to view the entirety of the Pyramid. Such a task proved impossible, the ship being that enormous that you couldn’t view it in its entirety from the position I held.

I slowly trekked my way towards the ledge of the crater which the Pyramid floated above, the Cradle overshadowed by its gargantuan silhouette. My Ghost floated into the cover of my hood, hiding under the crook of my neck.

“I don’t like this, J,” her voice full of apprehension. “It feels…  _ wrong _ . Like on the Moon, but worse, more pervasive.”

“Neither do I, but what other options are there? Someone has to, and if it isn’t us, who?”

On the edge was some sort of black sludge. Rising from it was something I could only assume to be Darkness. I reach out to touch the sludge with the tip of my boot, only to find it solid.  
“What… is this?” I questioned, crouching down to get a closer look. It had a geometric pattern, squares expanding outwards in layers, like the crystalline bismuth I’d seen on display before. I raise my hand to brush against the rising flow of Darkness energy, finding that to be a big mistake. My arm was pulled in, as my boots struggled for purchase in the soil. My breath hitched, body tensing up as the rest of my body was dragged in, the Pyramid ship beginning to pull me and my Ghost towards it. 

“No, J!” my Ghost exclaims, her voice distorting. Then,  _ It _ was speaking through her again, her normally reserved and upbeat tone now cruel and mocking. A feeling of dread settled into my bones, as we approached closer and closer towards it. I raise my pulse rifle in a last ditch effort, intending to shoot upon the Pyramid.

Click. Click. Click. Nothing.

To my surprise, Outbreak doesn’t fire, something I wasn’t expecting. I carry out routine maintenance on it every day, given the nature of the weapon. To find it failing on me only served to increase my level of panic. Glancing down at the rifle with the hope of addressing the issue, my eyes widen. I had never seen it do this before.

Nanites were fervently swarming out from the barrel, but instead of projecting forward, they coalesced upon the weapon’s frame. Before I could consider this further, we were pulled elsewhere, somewhere within the Ascendent Plane. Looking back down, my Outbreak had changed, its thick, glowing, red arteries now replaced with thin, and milky coloured veins. It’s form stayed the same for the most part, but the external paneling was changed, not a hint of red anywhere. It’s metallic sheen was gone, now a more matte color, sigils and motifs adorning the barrel and forend. Along the top was a geometric pattern similar to what I’d encountered on Io.

Praying to the Traveler that Outbreak would work, I depressed the trigger. A burst of three rounds expelled from the barrel, off into the vast depths of darkness. Instead of their customary red glow, the rounds gave off a white light, the nanites having changed color. I don’t know what happened, only that it was changed. All I cared about at the moment was that it worked, and getting out of the Ascendant Plane to find Eris. My Ghost and I could go over the error logs later. For now, we had a mission to finish.


End file.
